


In-Between

by cowboykylux



Series: Pale x Reader Vignettes [19]
Category: Burn This - Wilson
Genre: F/M, Feelings, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Pale Needs A Hug, Reluctant Affection, everyone needs a hug tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-16
Updated: 2019-09-16
Packaged: 2020-10-19 23:44:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20665796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cowboykylux/pseuds/cowboykylux
Summary: 'It’s the in-between time, and you’re always unsure how it’s going to go, when he’s like this.'





	In-Between

It’s the in-between time, and you’re always unsure how it’s going to go, when he’s like this.

In-between the hardest, roughest, most satisfying fucking you’ve ever had, and deep, sex induced sleep. 

In these in-between times, he’s somewhat unpredictable.

Some days he lights up a cigarette and stays until he’s smoked it down to the nub, other days he leaves right away. Some days still, he’ll hold you until you fall asleep, gone before you open your eyes the next morning. 

This time, he isn’t reaching for his pack of Barclays, he’s reaching for you.

This time, he’s not striking a match or putting on his shoes, he’s hovering his hands, barely cupping your cheeks, the ghost of his touch on your face.

You close your eyes, unsure if this is a dream, if you’ve already stepped across the in-between and have gone right to sleep, because the way he leans in close to kiss you is unlike anything he’s ever done so far. 

His lips are warm, they’re wet, trembling just the smallest bit. 

Maybe he’s unsure too.

This is the most gentle he’s ever been with you, not that he’s never been kind, quite the opposite. But this, this is like he thinks you’ll shatter if he kisses you too hard, so he just dances over your lips with his own, licks into your mouth and is careful to avoid the bruises on your jaw where he held you a little too hard (not that you’re complaining). 

(He never gives you cause for complaint.)

You know he won’t stay, that he can’t – he’s too busy, has a wife he’s got to ignore and a job that takes too much from him – so you take advantage of this, of this softness. 

You know you’re not going to get it again for a long time, not like this.

You’re not surprised by this gentleness, just that he decided to show it so openly, so willingly, without any smart mouth comments or bitching to accompany it, without any rolled eyes or puffs of reluctance. 

He was always so reluctant, when it came to showing affection. 

You gave as good as you got, kissed him back with as much love as you could muster despite your thoroughly fucked soreness. You were covered in marks and scratches and bruises, and you loved each and every one of them, but their origin was the reason moments like these never lasted too long. 

You could tell you were slipping into sleep, could feel the pull of dreams at the edges of your mind, and you whined, fought against them. 

“Go to sleep,” Pale whispers, practically says inside your mouth as he kisses you, as he pets your hair. “I’ll be here.” 

“Will you?” You ask, meaning in the morning, because he never is. 

“No.” He says, because maybe once he’ll surprise you and stay, but until then, he doesn’t want to lie, doesn’t want to get your hopes up.

And you nod, because it’s enough to have him now, in the before and the after and the in-between. 


End file.
